According to the latest survey, far fewer jobs in financial services based in the UK have relocated to the European Union than originally anticipated in the wake of the Brexit referendum almost six years ago.
Immediately after the vote in the summer of 2016, City firms said they would be moving 12,500 jobs to European hubs because of the expected loss of London-based organizations’ ability to operate in the EU.
Some analysts even predicted that up to 100,000 UK jobs could eventually be lost.
Actually, only just over 7,000 posts have actually relocated or are in the process of doing so. Many firms had initially projected high numbers of staff moves to Europe amid fears of losing access to the single market. Now, however, many had revised the number of relocations following agreements between the UK and EU on operating models.
Omar Ali, Europe, Middle East, India, and Africa financial services leader at EY, said: “In the months following the referendum, financial firms voiced their intentions to bolster EU subsidiaries, move staff abroad and relocate headquarters in preparation for all possible scenarios.
As firms gained greater clarity on the post-Brexit landscape, they consolidated their plans and, in some cases, revised down the number of people they needed to relocate.
Cross-border access remained a priority for both UK and EU firms as they looked to create the most efficient, liquid markets offering end users the best choice and prices.
The Brexit Tracker showed that the principal winners of Brexit-related moves from London had been Paris (2,800 jobs), Frankfurt (1,800) and Dublin (1,200).
Conversely, Brexit has led to 2,900 new hires across the EU and 2,500 in the UK, with London recording the largest increase in the past three months.
The UK has signed a number of trade deals over recent years with key markets including Australia and Japan.
The data provisions in these agreements will help underpin an increase in cross-border financial services.
More significant is the proposed financial services mutual recognition deal with Switzerland, which has the potential to become a gold standard template for other jurisdictions to replicate.
Therefore, when it comes to the future of global financial services, there is no doubt that both the UK and EU will continue to be world-leading markets, driving innovation, progress and growth.
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